Can the insurance adjuster determine who is at fault when the police officer issued no tickets and did not indicate blame in his report?
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Can the insurance adjuster determine who is at fault when the police officer issued no tickets and did not indicate blame in his report?
Both drivers maintain the other driver came into his or her lane. This was at an intersection with two left hand turning lanes. One car was in the inside and the other was in the outside lane. The inside car had it’s headlight broken out, the outside car had a dent over driver side, rear wheel and a scratch from that point going forward onto the driver’s side rear door. We live in NC.
Asked on July 6, 2009 under Accident Law, North Carolina
Answers:
L.M., Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
Without hiring a accident reconstruction expert, it will be very difficult to determine who was at fault in this situation unless there were independent eyewitnesses. It sounds like the insurance companies should agree on a case of 50-50 liability and settle the matter accordingly. If there are any serious injuries, and a lawsuit is filed, reconstruction experts would likely be hired by the attorney. If this is a case of no injuries and minor to moderate damage, the insurance companies should settle it for 50-50 on the property damage. In other words, your insurance pays half of their damage, their insurance pays half of yours.
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